Florida takes game two, 6-4

VU Media Relations

04/01/2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. ­­-- Matt LaPorta and Brian Leclerc both hit two-run homers in the fifth inning to power Florida to a 6-4 win over Vanderbilt in baseball action Saturday afternoon at McKethan Stadium.

The Gators snapped a four-game conference losing streak and improved to 19-12 overall and 3-5 in SEC action. The Commodores' five-game league winning streak was snapped at five games as they fell to 18-9 on the year and 6-2 in the SEC.

Florida took a 1-0 lead in the first on Brian Jeroloman's suicide squeeze sacrifice bunt that plated Stephen Barton from third. Chris Petrie's RBI triple in the fourth pushed the lead to 2-0.

LaPorta's and Leclerc's homers in the fifth extended the lead to 6-0.

The Commodores cut the lead in half in the top of the sixth when Brian Hernandez came through with a two-run triple and then scored on a RBI single by Ryan Flaherty.

Dominic de la Osa went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the offense, with Alex Feinberg coming through with two hits of his own.

"It was a frustrating effort, but we buckled down after the fifth and starting coming back," said de la Osa. "We had a big inning in the sixth and Pedro had a big homer in the seventh that gave us more life, but we weren't able to get it done in the end."

Starter Matt Buschmann (3-3) was charged with the loss after giving up six runs on seven hits in five innings of work.

The teams will close out the series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be televised regionally on the Sunshine Network. Sophomore southpaw Cody Crowell will get the start for the Commodores, while the Gators starter is still to be determined.